natural resources & sustainable agricultural systems · pdf fileemissions of ammonia and...
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Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems (NRSAS) supports researchers at 59 locations throughout the U.S. developing the technologies and strategies needed to help farmers, ranchers, and other natural resource man-agers become effective stewards of the diverse agricultural ecosystems across the Nation. Emphasis is given to devel-oping economically efficient management practices and technologies that support profitable production and en-hance the Nation’s vast renewable natural resource base. Research priorities are identified through a continual dialog with a wide range of customers and stakeholders to ensure that our science is relevant and provides effective solutions to their concerns. We address issues affecting both private and public lands, because together these are the founda-tion of a healthy and vibrant agricultural industry that pro-vides food, feed, fiber, and renewable energy to the Na-tion, while maintaining abundant and high quality supplies of fresh water, clean air, productive soils, and healthy eco-systems.
NRSAS Statistics: Total Projects: 123 Total Locations: 59 Total Scientists: 423 Contact information Sally M. Schneider Deputy Administrator ARS-ONP-NRSAS GWCC Rm. 4-2288 5601 Sunnyside Ave. Beltsville, MD 20705 [email protected] 301-504-7987
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/NRSAS
Natural Resources & Sustainable Agricultural Systems
United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service
ARS Mission The Agricultural Research Service conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agri-cultural problems of high national priority and provides information access and dissemination to:
ensure high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products
assess the nutritional needs of Americans
sustain a competitive agricultural economy
enhance the natural resource base and the environment, and
provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.
ARS Locations
April 2017
The Water Availability and Watershed Management program conducts fundamental and applied research on the processes that control water availability (quantity and quality) for the health and economic growth of the American people, and de-velops new and improved technologies for managing the Na-tion's agricultural water resources. These advances in knowledge and technologies provide producers, action agen-cies, local communities, and resource advisors with the prac-tices, tools, models, and decision support systems they need to improve water use efficiency in agriculture, enhance water quality, sustain and increase agricultural productivity and profitability, protect rural and urban communities from the ravages of droughts and floods, improve agricultural and ur-ban watersheds, and prevent the degradation of riparian are-as, wetlands, and stream corridors. The program focuses strongly on development of technologies to improve water resource management and, where appropriate, transfer of these for commercialization to ensure availability to users. Water is fundamental to life, and adequate quality and quanti-ty are basic requirements for virtually all of our agricultural, industrial, urban, and recreational activities, as well as the sustained health of the natural environment. Total Projects: 36 Total Locations: 25 Total Scientists: 125 This National Program is organized into four component areas: Effective Water Management in Agriculture Erosion, Sedimentation, and Water Quality Protection Enhancing and Documenting the Benefits of Conservation
Practices Watershed Management to Improve Ecosystem Services
in Agricultural Landscapes National Program Leader: Dr. Teferi Tsegaye [email protected] (301) 504-4731 The Soil and Air program expands, maintains, enhances, and protects soil resources essential for U.S. agricultural produc-tion and minimizes any adverse impacts of agricultural man-agement on air quality. Research under Soil and Air seeks to optimize the management of crop nutrients, reduce odor and emissions of ammonia and greenhouse gases (GHG) from agri-cultural production, and explore options for production man-agement in the face of increasing weather extremes and cli-mate change. Research under Soil and Air will aid in: a) ensur-ing the availability of soil resources needed to provide food, feed, fiber, and feedstock for an expanding global population; b) optimizing management strategies and practices that pro-tect biological, chemical, and physical soil characteristics and enhance overall soil health and productivity, especially in the
face of drought, saline buildup, and other challenges that re-sult from weather related stress and climate change; c) reduc-ing the loss of nutrient amendments, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from agricultural landscapes; minimizing the re-lease of particulate, odor-causing, volatile and greenhouse gas emissions; d) optimizing best management practices that re-duce risks associated with pathogens, antibiotic resistant bac-teria, and antibiotic resistance genes; and e) developing uses for agricultural, industrial, and municipal byproducts, including manure. Total Projects: 26 Total Locations: 20 Total Scientists: 87
This National Program is organized into three component
areas: Management and stewardship of soil resources Managing nutrients in agroecosystems Reducing environmental risk of agricultural operations National Program Leaders Dr. Marlen Eve: [email protected] (301) 504-4613 Dr. Dave Knaebel: [email protected] (301) 504-4644 The goal of the Biorefining program is to conduct research that
enables new, commercially-viable technologies for the conver-
sion of agricultural materials into fuels, value-added co-
products, and biobased products. The program was designed
to meet the following criteria: maximize the long-term eco-
nomic impact of ARS biorefining research; emphasize ARS’
unique capabilities and avoid overlap with research at other
institutions; and maximize returns to agricultural stakeholders
from ARS investment of public funds. By developing commer-
cially viable technologies for the production of biobased indus-
trial products, ARS biorefining research increases the demand
for agricultural products and therefore benefits both agricul-
tural producers and rural communities.
Total Projects: 9 Total Locations: 4 Total Scientists: 35 This National Program is organized into three component are-as: Biochemical conversion Biodiesel Pyrolysis National Program Leader: Dr. Gene Lester [email protected] (301) 504-4616
The Pasture, Forage and Rangeland Systems program develops and integrates management practices, germplasm, and land-use strategies in order to ensure the economic, environmental and production sustainability of our livestock production systems. The program seeks to improve food and energy security while enhancing the nat-ural resource base. By developing and transferring eco-nomically viable and environmentally protective practices and technologies, the program enhances sustainable range, pasture, forage and turf production systems that are sound both ecologically and agronomically, and that are resilient to weather extremes and well-adapted to a changing cli-mate. Total Projects: 26 Total Locations: 22 Total Scientists: 87
This National Program is organized into four component areas: Improved Rangeland Management for Enhanced Live-
stock Production, Conservation, and Ecological Ser-vices
Improved Pasture Technologies and Management for Enhanced Livestock Production, Conservation, and Ecological Services
Improved Harvested Forages for Enhanced Livestock, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts
Turf Improvement and Management National Program Leader: Dr. Marlen Eve [email protected] (301) 504-4613 The Agricultural System Competitiveness and Sustainability research program develops agricultural systems to simulta-neously attain the four goals of agricultural sustainability: meet yield quantity and quality needs, ensure producer economic viability, enhance environmental quality and the natural resources base, and enhance the quality of life for farmers, farm workers, and society as a whole. Using a focus on the interaction of genetics with environment and management (GxExM), production intensification and greater efficiency are sought via integration of new and proven practices, models and decision support systems, precision agriculture, automation, and remote sensing. This program is also home to the ARS Long Term Agroeco-system Research network (LTAR). The LTAR coordinates data collection and research scenarios at 18 locations to
address the consequences of agricultural system perfor-mance when affected by changes such as variable and changing climate, markets, policy and technological innova-tion. Each of the 18 LTAR sites (see map) integrates agro-ecosystem research within the hydrologic basin/farm re-source it represents, centered on one or more benchmark watersheds, experimental ranges, or research farms that already possess a rich history of historical datasets. At the broadest scale, the LTAR network addresses the question, “How can we sustain or enhance productivity, profitability, and ecosystem services in the Nation’s agro-ecosystems and agricultural landscapes?” More information can be found at (www.ars.usda.gov/ltar).
Total Projects: 26 Total Locations: 23 Total Scientists: 89 This National Program is organized into five component areas: Food, Feed, Fiber, and Feedstock Production Systems Production System Economics Production System Effects on Natural Resources Integration of Production Systems Closing the Yield Gap through Interactions of Genetics
x Environment x Management (G x E x M) National Program Leader: Dr. Charlie Walthall [email protected] (301) 504-4634
ARS Data Management Efforts Our goals for data management are to capture and distribute relevant data to the research community, especially model-ers, in useable formats. Data include measured data, such as values of sediment in streams, and descriptive data such as the methods used for measuring the data. Data management includes the activities surrounding storing created data, de-scribing stored data so that it can be used by others, finding data, obtaining data, and analyzing data for specific uses.
Current major data management efforts include:
CEAP (Conservation Effects Assessment Project) develops methods, tools, and data to quantify the effects of the USDA Conservation Programs by providing detailed assessments of conservation practices on watersheds. The diverse data from the watersheds are aggregated in a database delivery appli-cation known as STEWARDS (described below), which in-cludes site data for weather, precipitation, soils, manage-ment, and water quality.
GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) is a program that provides the research community with information concerning carbon storage in agricultural systems and information on nitrous oxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that may be emitted by agricultural practices. The GRACEnet database includes site data for weather, soils, land management, and measurement methods for net GHG emissions (carbon diox-ide, nitrous oxide, methane) and carbon (C) sequestration.
REAP (Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices) provides the research community with information concerning soil implications of farm management practices used to grow crops for bioenergy production. The corresponding database includes data sets describing the geographic characteristics of research sites, soil chemistry, farm management practices, and economics impacts.
STEWARDS is a database delivery application for CEAP, GRA-CEnet, and REAP. STEWARDS is the baseline system for future natural resources database systems.
NUOnet (Nutrient Use and Outcome Network) is focused on the development of a nutrient management database. NUOnet aims to build the research and data connections among best management practices designed to increase nu-trient use efficiency, reduce nutrient losses to the environ-ment, and improve crop quality and nutritional value for ani-mal and human health.
ARS-Developed Models Our sophisticated and comprehensive modelers require ex-tensive data to develop and validate their applications. The following are a subset of some of the powerful models ARS has developed: SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) predicts the impact of land management practices on outflow of water, sedi-ment, and agricultural chemicals over long periods of time.
WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) model, is a physi-cally-based simulation tool for estimating the effects of land management practices on runoff, soil loss, and sediment yield from hill slope profiles and small watersheds.
WEPS (Wind Erosion Prediction System) is a process-based, continuous, daily time-step model that simulates weather, field conditions, management, and wind erosion.
AGNPS (AGricultural Non-Point Source) pollution model pre-dicts non-point source pollutant loadings within agricultural watersheds.
CQESTR simulates the effects of climate, crop rotation, and tillage management practices, and soil amendment additions on soil organic carbon (C).
RZWQM2 (Root Zone Water Quality Model) simulates the effects of major agricultural management practices on physi-cal-chemical processes and plant growth, and the movement of water, nutrients, and pesticides to runoff and through the crop-root zone to shallow groundwater.
RUSLE2 (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) predicts rill and inter-rill erosion by rainfall and runoff.
NLEAP-GIS (Nitrate Leaching and Economic Analysis Pack-age) allows users to assess the effects of management prac-tices on nitrogen losses to the environment across diverse landscape and cropping system combinations.
RHEM (Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model) is de-signed to provide sound, science-based technology to model and predict runoff and erosion rates on rangelands and to assist in assessing rangeland conservation practice effects.
pdf with active links at http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/NRSAS